THE HAWTHORNS - WEST BROMWCH ALBION

Ground #: 30

Visited: 16th October 2011
venue: The Black Country derby! Over here in Holland most people just stare a you trying to understand what you mean, but for us lovers of the game in the UK it's quite a venue. Who will be king in the region for the next months? After a break of almost a year (due to some postponements in the last months) we were ready for a great match!

attendance: 24,872

our seats:

Millennium Corner	view at the pitch

Ground layout kindly provided by the Football Ground Guide website

impression of the ground

The Hawthorns has been the Baggies home for over a century. Wow! Of course it's been modernised in those years and it still is a great one. The Main stand has the inevitable skyboxes and equals the Smethwick stand (where the away fans are located) ion height dso thats a pretty sight. The two other stands are even bigger except for the corners which is a pity.

From the outside it's not too special really, the neighbourhood (at least coming from our parking place) is quite desolate. But once your inside it's all forgotten. And, a big plus: almost everyone is wearing the West Brom shirt, which is a very nice one.

atmosphere: 
The Black Country derby is a big one here. In the Birmingham area there is the rivalry between Villa and Brum and the one between West Brom and Wolves. The Baggies in our block (which were the ones wearing Burberry and casual wear) were mostly singing / acting against Wolves and not supporting there own side. That only happened after the 2-0 when the game was in the pocket. Even despite an early lead it wasn't as passionate as derbies we've seen before like the Merseyside derby of the South Wales derby. 

clubshop:
WBA have got a huge club shop with -important for us!- a wide range of hats. But when we walked along to see what else was in the shop, we couldn't get back as it was so crowded you could onliy walk one-way! But the stalls outside the ground also provided some. 

catering:  
Yep, okay! Not special, the usual burgers and pies, but there were enough selling points inside and outside the ground. We weren't hungry when we headed back home!

away following: 3,000

atmosphere away end:  
As it was THE derby for the Wlves fans as well, they were a bit quiet. The quick Baggies goal didn't help them either. And when they sang, the massive response of the West Brom fans overruled them. Nevertheless it was a great sight to see the away end packed to the rafters with fans in (also) very beautiful shirts (which of course is my opinion :) )

Conclusion
It was a good day out to the Hawthorns, a famous ground with a great venue but nevertheless we had liked somewhat extra passion. But hey, no complaints from our side!

impression of the ground (photo's): 
 

from Manchester airport to Birmingham we passed Walsall's Bescot Stadium	just follow all the guys in the striped shirts and you'll find the Hawthorns!.
hmm... not the nicest of areas...	From the outside it looks a bit dull
but WBA's logo is great	as was todays venue!!
merchandise outside...	...and inside the fences
we're in! This is the Halfords Lane Stand	the east stand was filled
...the Birmingham Road stand as well	the Smethwick end, with the Wolves fans
pre-match entertainment	let's get started!
WBA played toward us in the first half	Wolves tried to get even after half time, but without result
the Wolves give it another try	smokey business after the Baggies second goal
They seem a bit obsessed with the wank sign at WBA...	But then again, the derby was theirs this time!
the Milennium corner is happy!	great floodlights by the way!
panoramic shot of the Hawthorns half an hour before kickoff

How to get there?
That's very easy: From the M5 go to the A41 and you can hardly miss the ground on your right. Plenty of parkingspace for the usual 4 or 5 pounds 

Clubinfo:
Official website: www.wba.co.uk
Capacity:26,500
Adress: Halfords Lane, West Bromwich, West Midlands, B71 4LF
Phone: 0871 271 1100
Ticket Office: 0871 271 9780